Flight of Being
If, like me, you missed the 2007 Venice Biennale - recommend you check out the poor-man’s substitute of Bill Viola’s ‘Ocean Without a Shore’ on youtube - amazing piece – real ‘flight of being’ sort of stuff – blew me away... if only to be there in the flesh
LINKS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-V7in9LObI&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTakwOpWqG4&feature=related
LINKS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-V7in9LObI&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTakwOpWqG4&feature=related
Sound recording interviews for radio documentaries
Below are a few elementary notes on things to remember when recording interviews in field:
ALWAYS check the equipment before venturing off to record, even if the kit has been prepared for you by Operations staff – are the batteries fully charged? are the leads free of crackle? are all the bits in good working order? Obviously ensure you feel confident using the unit and understand the response curve and power source of the microphone. Also make sure you have back-up – extra… leads, tapes/recording space, batteries etc. – as well as the power supply and maybe an extension lead.
Good levels peak between -6 and -12db: this leaves you with a minimum of 4db headroom in
case the situation suddenly becomes louder. If the levels are too high and the sound distorts the material is unusable – if you record too low the sound will have an unattractive hiss when you increase the volume in post. Tip; if recording in an unpredictable situation with a single cardioid or directional mic onto a stereo track - set the channels so that one is a little lower than the other – this means that in post you can split the stereo into mono tracks and use the best one.
ALWAYS monitor levels in the headphones – and check how high the monitoring or headphone volume is – if the monitoring levels are set high then you may think you are recording good sound when you are not. If you record often, find the ‘right’ monitoring level for you and reset the unit to it every time you record – this will help train your ears.
Positioning the microphone… during an interview stay close to the sound source by default. Place the back of the microphone to the least wanted sound.
Don’t record without setting the levels and doing a sound check first.
Turn off mobile phones – both yours and the participants. Mobile phones cause interference and usually ring right at the wrong moment.
As a matter of course, get the participant to spell their name, state their position/title and repeat their phone number ‘on tape’ – while you will not use this material in the edit, it means if you lose their details you have an aural copy.
Sounds to avoid… all forms of wind noise – natural wind, wind generated by mic movement, wind from voice (the classic ‘pop’ – when a puff of breath crosses the mic). Handling noise is also unappealing – don’t fiddle with the lead or let the participant hold the mic.
Noisy Locations… if you record in a loud and recognisable location (eg a café) do it for a good reason to do with the story/piece (not just because it’s convenient at the time) – either incorporate that location into the fabric of the piece (by verbal reference, recording atmospheres and spot sounds) or go somewhere else. Also, if you record in a space with a lot of natural reverb – know the verbal material will ‘bleed’, making it a lot more difficult to edit.
Domestic Locations… if it’s a quiet home, the closest you will get to the semblance of a ‘studio sound’ is a room with a lot of soft furnishing – like a living room or bedroom. Listen out for consistent, irritating sounds like a fan or refrigerator buzz – ask the participant to turn it off – but if it’s the fridge don’t forget to remind them to turn it back on again!
Always record an atmos track after an interview – particularly when the space has a little bit of aural movement. For example, if recording outside and the odd car or distant train sounds during the interview – hang around to capture the same sort of sound at the end. For some
reason the cut you want to make in post is always across this incidental sound, so recording a ‘clean’ version enables you to mask this transition.
Recording telephone interviews on a land-line from home is easy if you have a lapel microphone – a hardwire is best but a radio mic. will do. Make a small foam pocket for the mic and use Elastoplast or athlete tape to fix it to the ear piece – secure it well so it doesn’t move around and tape the lead down the back of the handset (you will still be able to hear clearly through it). You will need a second microphone to record your voice – and ensure you record the tracks separately rather than as a stereo mix. This
technique is good if you are desperate, but obviously you will get a better sound if you record a phone interview with equipment designed to do it.
FURTHER INFO
• for delicious links and resources go to sound_recording and interviewing
RELATED SUBJECTS
• for more general links and posts about the production period see my delicious tag, project_production
IMAGE: sourced from delamar
Developing radio documentary concepts
Once you have identified a radio documentary concept with legs - the next step is to put it through its paces and develop it into something more substantial that a brainstrom cloud…
The most important thing to ascertain from the outset is where this radio documentary will end up - where it will be presented - followed quickly by the question, 'are you barking up the right tree?' As in, are you pitching the idea to the most appropriate ‘host’ program? Ensure you listen to and are familiar with the program you are pitching to – and make sure you look though their ‘past programs’ to see if they have covered the idea previously. (Check out long-time RN executive producer Matthew Leonard's post, notes from the thought police for an insiders viewpoint)
Developing the program means that you know and have identified the program:
The program concept you propose is not ‘set in stone’ – there is room to move once the process is ‘in its stride’ – and the idea may not turn out exactly as you thought it would in the beginning… but you need to write a proposal in ‘good faith’ in the light of the best information you can gather at the time.
The most important thing to ascertain from the outset is where this radio documentary will end up - where it will be presented - followed quickly by the question, 'are you barking up the right tree?' As in, are you pitching the idea to the most appropriate ‘host’ program? Ensure you listen to and are familiar with the program you are pitching to – and make sure you look though their ‘past programs’ to see if they have covered the idea previously. (Check out long-time RN executive producer Matthew Leonard's post, notes from the thought police for an insiders viewpoint)
Developing the program means that you know and have identified the program:
- focus
- a strong hook - you know who will be interested in your story and why
- characters, what they will say and do why they are interesting
- story, how it unfolds and resolves, how you will capture it and why it is good
- why it’s a good story for radio and how it is relevant and contributes to your host program
- have a sense of how you will structure the program, its style, the best length for the piece
- Know the project is doable - and have a draft production schedule and a sense of potential difficulties
- Research background & context
- Ensure you have access to materials and program participants
- Conduct a reconnaissance mission & preliminary interviews
- Identify useable textures and sound materials
- Sort out the logistics of the program
RELATED
Interview with Radio National's Brent Clough
Interview with ABC Radio National's Brent Clough by kylabrettle
Radio Eye and The Night Air presenter/producer Brent Clough speaks with Kyla Brettle about what Radio Eye looks for in proposals.
Brent Clough: I think what we are looking for is something someone has thought through in an audio sense pretty clearly, they have thought very clearly about what elements that are going to put into a piece and they know where they are going to record them or if they have recorded – and they have a sense of the shape and the ideas of the program.
It’s not often strictly a story – but a picture, I suppose – we call ourselves Radio Eye for the documentary show, so we want in some ways a kind of clear and interesting audio picture of some thing or some time – it’s finding something that is convincing… It’s an idea or a set of people or a place that will stand to be made into something interesting which will maintain a listeners attention for up to around forty minutes.
Kyla Brettle: How thoroughly does the idea need to be worked out?
Radio Eye and The Night Air presenter/producer Brent Clough speaks with Kyla Brettle about what Radio Eye looks for in proposals.
Brent Clough: I think what we are looking for is something someone has thought through in an audio sense pretty clearly, they have thought very clearly about what elements that are going to put into a piece and they know where they are going to record them or if they have recorded – and they have a sense of the shape and the ideas of the program.
It’s not often strictly a story – but a picture, I suppose – we call ourselves Radio Eye for the documentary show, so we want in some ways a kind of clear and interesting audio picture of some thing or some time – it’s finding something that is convincing… It’s an idea or a set of people or a place that will stand to be made into something interesting which will maintain a listeners attention for up to around forty minutes.
Kyla Brettle: How thoroughly does the idea need to be worked out?
Brent Clough: I think you need to be pretty clear about what sounds and what treatment you are going to give to those sounds. It really comes down to knowing your talent, know the possible sound sources you are going to use, whether you are going to use music, field recordings, wether you are going to structure the program in particular ways that are unusual – it may be a mixture of drama and actuality – you need to have a fairly clear grasp of the way you want to tell the story and the way you want to present the feature.
So if you are musician for instance you may well have a clear musical structure to the program and that’s something we encourage on the Night Air – and we often we work with musicians who have a very good sense of the musical approach to the piece. For Radio Eye I think you really do need to know your subject too – you need to know the are you are researching it can’t be superficial it often really needs to be quite deep
You often need quite good relationships with the people you are going to speak with too. You need to be able to get good voices and get good accounts from people – so that takes a little bit of work sometimes – yeah you need to put some effort into finding good people and places and sounds.
Kyla Brettle: How important is it that a proposal is well written?
So if you are musician for instance you may well have a clear musical structure to the program and that’s something we encourage on the Night Air – and we often we work with musicians who have a very good sense of the musical approach to the piece. For Radio Eye I think you really do need to know your subject too – you need to know the are you are researching it can’t be superficial it often really needs to be quite deep
You often need quite good relationships with the people you are going to speak with too. You need to be able to get good voices and get good accounts from people – so that takes a little bit of work sometimes – yeah you need to put some effort into finding good people and places and sounds.
Kyla Brettle: How important is it that a proposal is well written?
Brent Clough: It should be well written – it’s an indication of writing skills and you are probably going to need those in the program. So, it needs to be clear, it needs to be strong, it needs to be confident and well-written. You need to be able to use language or at least convey the way you are going to make your program effectively - you may not use many voices it may be all field recordings – but you need to be able to explain and evoke what you want to do pretty clearly in the proposal, I think. It can be very simple though, a simple proposal can be fine too, but it does need to be clear and it should be pretty well written, I think.
Kyla Brettle: What makes a potential story engaging for you?
Kyla Brettle: What makes a potential story engaging for you?
Brent Clough: For me, I suppose I’d be interested in the sound sources and seeing how rich and interesting the sound sources were. I guess that’s something I’m particularly interested in. But I know people are interested in features that show some kind of transformation – we somehow get to witness a change, some kind of transformation. That’s not necessarily saying it’s a narrative with be beginning, middle and end, but it is something that’s an experience – that you go through a listening experience that takes you somewhere and maybe changes you as a listener.
So yeah, the sense of being able to transform listeners, or have a story that often deals with transformation of characters or a place or an idea – I guess that’s very attractive in any kind of idea
Kyla Brettle: Have you got anything to say to budding young feature makers out there?
Brent Clough: Well, I’d say go for it – really listen to what’s around and what’s available – I think a lot of people don’t realise that radio can be really creative and is an art-form. There are so few examples of that kind of radio around – you hear a little bit community radio and in college radio – but people forget that the ABC is still a basion for radio drama, for innovative uses of radio, creative features – experimental forms of radio too - that’s certainly what I think The Night Air is.
So, maybe people who are radio students or working in sound – they need to listen to what is out there in radio and just go for it because there are unlimited possibilities. And it’s also weirdly more free, in some ways than images, you have the chance to be more intimate and more playful with ideas.
So it’s the medium of the imagination, I suppose and I would really encourage people – if they want to make imaginative media in some form – to listen to radio, it’s still a strong and interesting area to work for.
So yeah, the sense of being able to transform listeners, or have a story that often deals with transformation of characters or a place or an idea – I guess that’s very attractive in any kind of idea
Kyla Brettle: Have you got anything to say to budding young feature makers out there?
Brent Clough: Well, I’d say go for it – really listen to what’s around and what’s available – I think a lot of people don’t realise that radio can be really creative and is an art-form. There are so few examples of that kind of radio around – you hear a little bit community radio and in college radio – but people forget that the ABC is still a basion for radio drama, for innovative uses of radio, creative features – experimental forms of radio too - that’s certainly what I think The Night Air is.
So, maybe people who are radio students or working in sound – they need to listen to what is out there in radio and just go for it because there are unlimited possibilities. And it’s also weirdly more free, in some ways than images, you have the chance to be more intimate and more playful with ideas.
So it’s the medium of the imagination, I suppose and I would really encourage people – if they want to make imaginative media in some form – to listen to radio, it’s still a strong and interesting area to work for.
also posted to ABC RN Independent@gLOBE
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